Q2 often feels like a slump… even for the strongest sales teams.
Let’s set the scene (although hopefully it’s not too triggering).
Your team came out swinging in Q1.
Fueled by fresh quotas and the urgency of a new year, reps leaned into January’s pipeline with aggressive deal cycles and executive-assisted closes to hit early-year targets. Everyone wins. Attainment is high. Commissions land (accurately and timely, thanks to a little help from your commission automation tool *wink*). And spirits remain up.
But now it’s the Spring.
You notice a lighter demo schedule across your team’s calendars.
Prospect responses slow down.
Your Q2 pipeline looks emptier than you’d like, and reps are feeling the hangover from a front-loaded quarter.
It’s not just your team. It’s the pattern.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
For many B2B buyers, Q1 represents new budget authority.
That often triggers a wave of purchases aimed at kicking off initiatives early. In contrast, Q2 sees decision-makers re-evaluate spending, delay onboarding, or pause until H2 planning. Add in procurement cycles, fiscal year misalignment, and post-Q1 buyer fatigue, and fewer signed deals follow.
Comp plans don’t always help here.
If quotas are evenly spread across quarters without adjusting for real buying patterns, or worse, if Q1’s quota was heavier to take advantage of early momentum, Q2 can feel like a desert. Sellers see commissions dry up, motivation dips, and attainment suffers.
But this isn’t inevitable.
Below, we’ll cover:
How seasonal buyer behaviors impact Q2 attainment
Compensation and quota structuring strategies to offset mid-year slowdowns
Tactical ways to deploy SPIFs and short-term accelerators
How leading RevOps teams are using QuotaPath to fix attainment discrepancies and keep teams aligned and motivated
Recommended Reading
The SPIF Report: Curious how top revenue teams use SPIFs and accelerators to align with key business goals and drive measureable results? Our latest report below dives into our data from $7.3M in sales incentives.
Compensation: The Quiet Culprit Behind Q2 Underperformance
If you’re only looking at pipeline health or rep activity in Q2, you’re missing a big piece of the story. The compensation structure is critical in sustaining momentum following a strong Q1.
Here are a few levers to pull should you find yourself in this situation.
1. Rebalance Quotas Around Seasonality
First, instead of evenly dividing quotas across four quarters, align them to historical attainment data and buyer behavior.
For many SaaS orgs, that might look like: – Heavier quotas in Q1 and Q4 – Lighter quotas in Q2 when deal velocity slows -A buffer in Q3 to prep for year-end pushes
To help, you could use QuotaPath’s Plan Performance Modeling tool to simulate different quota distributions to predict rep earnings, attainment, and commission cost impact. Use it to test a “light Q2” model without overcorrecting total OTE.
Calculate OTE:Quota ratios
Use this free calculator to ensure your reps’ on-target earnings and quotas mirror what they’re bringing in for the business.
The key, however, is to have these SPIFs lined up before you start to lose out on pipeline.
According to our Q1 SPIF Report, the most effective SPIFs are those tied to very specific behaviors, not just general revenue boosts.
In Q2, consider: – SPIFs tied to self-sourced opps to offset demand gen lulls – Bonus for multi-product deals to maximize value per close – Higher rate accelerators for deals with shorter time-to-close
An easy way to spin up temporary plan components without disrupting core plans is through QuotaPath. Reps see the incentive in real time, while leadership tracks performance in the same dashboard. Frees you up from having to track and calculate SPIFs in an extra spreadsheet, too.
3. Add a Q2-Only Bonus Layer
Even a simple milestone bonus, “Close 3 deals in May, get $500,” can re-inject urgency.
Reps respond well to tangible, near-term goals.
Unlike a quarterly quota that may feel out of reach by mid-May, a defined milestone tied to a bonus delivers immediate focus and motivation, especially for your mid-tier performers.
It gives sellers something they can realistically strive for and track in real time. These bonuses also work especially well in Q2 when the pipeline might be lighter, helping to build momentum through smaller wins.
Pro tip: Include a visual forecast of bonus impact inside your reps’ dashboards. Seeing how close they are to earning more drives action.
(Reps thrive on short-term visibility. QuotaPath’s component-based plan build structure allows you to add these in minutes and toggle them off at the end of the quarter.)
Pipeline Fixes Start with Plan Design
Implementing SPIFs, milestone bonuses, or shifting quota targets isn’t just a flip of the switch. Instead, it starts with how your comp plan is designed and modeled in the first place.
This is where RevOps and Finance teams can get ahead.
Using QuotaPath’s AI-Powered Plan Builder and our Draft Plans feature, you can quickly build different versions of your plan before you roll them out and test them against historical numbers to see how they’d fare. That means less guesswork, more clarity, and faster alignment across stakeholders.
With QuotaPath, teams can: – Forecast the cost and impact of Q2-only adjustments – Test SPIF scenarios using real CRM and attainment data – Visualize how individual reps would be affected based on their historical performance
This level of flexibility gives teams the confidence to act quickly when Q2 shows early warning signs, without risking confusion or misalignment.
Recommended Reading
How to Foster Comp Plan Collaboration and Alignment
With thoughtful comp structuring, aligned incentives, and visibility into earnings potential, your team can sustain momentum even when the market slows.
The key? Use your comp plan as a performance driver, not just a calculator.
If reps can see exactly how to earn more, and your plans adapt to real pipeline behavior, Q2 becomes an opportunity, not a letdown.
When a new sales hire joins your team, the first few months can make or break their long-term success. Without a structured ramping comp plan, new reps risk falling behind, losing motivation, and burning out before they’ve even had a fair shot at full productivity.
That’s where our Sales Ramp Calculator comes in—a free tool designed to help revenue leaders create fair, motivating, and data-backed ramping compensation plans.
Comp Plan Ramp Calculator
Set rep quotas and ramp comp plans to give them an equal shot at their full on-target earnings.
In fact, our Sales Ramp Report found the average ramp period to be 6 months, with some stretching as long as 12–18 months for teams with longer sales cycles. Despite this, few companies have a structured approach to adjust quotas and commissions during this critical time.
Without a clear plan, new hires face unrealistic expectations. Meanwhile, leadership is left guessing on payout structures and ramp ROI.
Here’s the truth: you can’t afford to wing it.
QuotaPath’s Sales Ramp Calculatortakes the guesswork out by turning your sales inputs into a clear, fair ramp plan—complete with quota breakdowns, commission rates, and earnings projections.
How the Sales Ramp Calculator Works
In just a few steps, the calculator helps you build a tailored ramping comp plan:
Input Your Key Metrics:
Annual Quota
Average Contract Value
Sales Cycle Length
Variable Pay (OTE)
Generate a Ramp Structure:
Starts with guaranteed OTE
Transitions to partial quota + higher commission rate
Ends with full quota and standard rate
Customize by Ramp Length:
Monthly, quarterly, or annual depending on deal volume Adjusted quotas based on sales cycle
Get a Downloadable Breakdown:
Earnings, commissions, and quota month-by-month
Easy to export and share
Report: Ramping Comp Plans
See how 100+ revenue leaders set their new reps up for success by creating ramping comp plans with adjusted quotas and commission rates.
If you’re still relying on spreadsheets or building plans from scratch, it’s time to simplify. Use the Sales Ramp Calculator to design a data-driven plan in minutes—and set your reps up for long-term success.
To dig deeper, check out the full Sales Ramp Report for more data-backed trends and examples.
Ramping a new sales rep is one of the trickiest balancing acts in revenue leadership. Reps need time to build pipeline, but the business needs bookings. Enter ramping comp plans: the not-so-secret weapon that aligns early rep activities with long-term performance goals.
We surveyed 114 revenue leaders across team sizes and industries to learn exactly how they’re building these plans. The results? Tactics you can borrow today to design a ramping strategy that supports new hires and hits your number.
Report: Ramping Comp Plans
See how 100+ revenue leaders set their new reps up for success by creating ramping comp plans with adjusted quotas and commission rates.
While ramping timeframes vary, six months was the most common ramp period among respondents. For companies with long sales cycles, that stretch can extend to 12-18 months. The takeaway: base your ramp period on your sales cycle length and how long it truly takes for reps to close their first deal.
Draws, Reduced Quotas, and Safety Nets
40% of companies provide guaranteed commissions during ramp, mostly through draws:
20% use non-recoverable draws
10% use recoverable draws
10% offer flat-rate bonuses
Smaller teams (1-10 reps) are more likely to offer higher commission rates with lower quotas. Meanwhile, 100% of enterprise teams (101+ reps) rely on reduced quota structures to give new hires breathing room.
Adjusting Quotas is the #1 Ramping Tactic
The most widely adopted ramping method? Lowering quota expectations. This allows reps to focus on pipeline generation before jumping into the deep end. Some companies pair this with higher commission rates to keep early earnings competitive.
An example progression might look like:
Month 1: 25% of full quota
Month 2: 50%
Month 3: 75%
Month 4+: 100%
Or a quarterly model with quotas ramping 50% > 75% > 100%.
Accelerators: Earn More, Earlier
Only 30% of companies allow reps to hit accelerators during ramp. But when used, this tactic boosts early motivation and rewards high performers from day one. For companies that delay accelerators until full ramp, the goal is to prevent overpaying before consistent performance is proven.
Activity-Based Pay? Not So Much
Less than 3% of teams tie ramp pay to activities like calls or demos. The majority reward only closed-won revenue. However, several leaders noted they’re exploring MBO-based ramp plans to offer structure before deals start closing.
Ramp Plan Examples to Steal
Here are some real frameworks from survey respondents:
Small team (1-10 reps): 6-month ramp. First 3 months focus on pipeline only. Months 4-6 carry progressive quota (33%, 66%, 100%). Accelerators kick in at full quota.
Mid-sized team (11-50 reps): Reduced quota with flat-rate payout. Bonus if rep hits full ramp quota. Accelerators delayed until post-ramp.
Large team (51-100 reps): 90-day ramp. Non-recoverable draw instead of reduced quotas. Accelerators allowed during ramp.
Want to see how your plan stacks up? Try our free Ramp Calculator to model your own.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Final Thought: Ramp is Your First Chance to Get Comp Right
The right ramping comp plan doesn’t just shorten time to productivity. It builds trust. It aligns effort with earnings. And it sets the tone for performance expectations going forward.
With QuotaPath, you can design, implement, and communicate comp plans that reps actually understand. Use our intuitive builder to create structured ramp plans, add transparency with deal-by-deal earnings visibility, and drive the right behaviors from day one.
Want to see how it works? Schedule a demo and let’s build your best ramping strategy yet.
Lastly, need more data? Don’t miss our Q1 Spiff Report for insights into tactical short-term incentives.
For many RevOps leaders, the sales tech stack is the sacred key to operating efficiently. With the right combination of tools, sales teams can automate tasks, streamline workflows, and gain valuable insights to close more deals.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through: – What a sales tech stack is and why it matters – The essential tools every sales team needs, from CRM to commission management software – How to choose and build the right sales technology stack for your business
Whether starting from scratch or refining your existing sales stack, this guide will help you make informed decisions that drive revenue and efficiency.
Adding Commission Tracking
Interested in adding sales compensation management to your sales tech stack? Learn how doing so can help drive seller performance while saving time and eliminating errors on the backend.
Let’s start with the basics. A sales tech stack is the collection of software, tools, and technologies a sales team uses to manage processes and optimize performance. Sales technology plays a crucial role in modern sales teams, with an average of 10 toolsper stack, according to Salesforce.
The sales stack streamlines processes, enhances productivity, and drives growth with data analysis, automation, and customer engagement.
Key software categories in today’s sales stack include tools for every sales aspect, including prospecting, commission management, lead enrichment, appointment scheduling, CRM, and contract management. This makes sales technology foundational to any successful sales strategy.
Now that we’ve defined what makes up a sales tech stack, let’s dig into why having the right one in place correlates to your team’s success.
For any growth-oriented organization, this is a must-have.
First, investing in the right tools increases efficiency and productivity by reducing administrative tasks and enabling sales teams to focus on selling. A strong sales technology stack automates manual tasks, such as data entry and follow-ups, saving valuable time.
This automation also improves data accuracy and forecasting enabling better decision-making and revenue predictability.
Lastly, well-integrated sales technology enhances collaboration across teams by aligning marketing, sales, and customer success to a single source of truth.
The right sales stack empowers your team to work smarter, move faster, and drive consistent growth.
Tools You Need For Your Sales Tech Stack
Next, let’s check out the key tool types that make up a strong sales stack.
Prospecting Tools
Prospecting tools help sales teams identify, connect with, and qualify potential leads more effectively, filling the top of the funnel with high-quality opportunities.
Prospecting Software Use Cases – Finding and Engaging Leads: Identify and reach out to potential customers through automated prospecting. – Automating Outreach Sequences: Streamline follow-ups with personalized email and call sequences. – Enriching Lead Data: Gather additional firmographic and behavioral insights to improve lead quality. – Prioritizing High-Intent Prospects: Score and filter leads based on engagement and buying signals. – Tracking Outreach Performance: Measure open rates, response rates, and conversion metrics to refine prospecting efforts.
Prospecting Software Benefits – Increases Efficiency: Automates manual lead sourcing and outreach tasks. – Enhances Personalization: Provides data-driven insights to tailor messaging for higher engagement. – Improves Lead Quality: Helps reps focus on high-potential prospects with better qualification. – Speeds Up Pipeline Growth: Fills the sales funnel with a consistent flow of targeted leads. – Seamless CRM Integration: Syncs with your CRM to keep prospect data current.
Prospecting Software Examples
Apollo.io – A comprehensive prospecting platform offering contact data, enrichment, and automated outreach.
ZoomInfo – Provides market intelligence, lead enrichment, and buyer intent data to help sales teams target the right accounts.
Lusha – A simple, effective tool for finding verified contact information and enriching lead profiles.
In QuotaPath, you can test drafted comp plans against previous data to see costs and performance.
Commission Management Software
Commission management software streamlines commission tracking and calculation, ensuring accuracy and transparency.
Commission Management Software Use Cases – Tracking and Calculating Commissions: Automate commission calculations based on deal data. – Providing Transparency for Sales Reps: Offer real-time visibility into earnings and potential payouts. – Forecasting Earnings: Allow reps to estimate their commissions based on pipeline performance. – Ensuring Compensation Accuracy: Eliminate manual errors in commission calculations.
Commission Management Software Benefits – Saves Time: Automates commission tracking and reduces manual calculations. – Boosts Sales Motivation: Real-time earnings visibility incentivizes performance. – Improves Accuracy: Ensures fair and error-free payouts. – Seamless CRM Integration: Syncs with your sales data for automated tracking.
Spiff – A sales commission automation tool calculates and manages real-time commission plans.
Xactly Incent – A robust incentive compensation platform for enterprise sales teams to manage complex commission structures.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
Lead enrichment tools enhance raw lead data with valuable insights; sales reps prioritize outreach and tailor messaging.
Lead Enrichment Software Use Cases – Enhancing Lead Data: Add firmographic, demographic, and behavioral insights to leads. – Improving Lead Scoring: Use enriched data to prioritize the highest-value prospects. – Personalizing Outreach: Provide sales reps with deeper insights to tailor messaging. – Automating Data Updates: Keep CRM records fresh with continuous data enrichment.
Lead Enrichment Software Benefits – Increases Lead Quality: Ensures sales teams work with accurate and complete prospect data. – Enhances Personalization: Provides deeper insights to craft targeted messaging. – Saves Time: Automates data collection and updates in real-time. – Boosts Conversion Rates: Helps reps engage more effectively with high-quality prospects.
Lead Enrichment Software Example
Clearbit – A lead enrichment tool that provides real-time firmographic and technographic
LinkedIn Sales Navigator – A prospecting tool that enhances lead data with social and professional insights.
LeadIQ – A prospecting and enrichment platform that captures and updates lead contact data.
Appointment Scheduling Software
Appointment scheduling tools simplify booking prospect meetings, reducing friction and accelerating the path from interest to conversation.
Appointment Scheduling Software Use Cases – Automating Meeting Booking: Allow leads to book meetings directly from emails or websites. – Reducing Scheduling Conflicts: Sync calendars to find available time slots. – Improving Speed-to-Lead: Instantly schedule follow-ups after lead capture. – Enhancing Team Coordination: Route meetings to the right sales reps.
Appointment Scheduling Software Benefits – Eliminates Back-and-Forth Emails: Automates scheduling to reduce friction. – Improves Lead Engagement: Makes it easier for prospects to book sales calls. – Enhances Productivity: Saves time by reducing manual scheduling tasks. – Integrates with CRM and Email: Syncs with existing tools for seamless scheduling.
Appointment Scheduling Software Example
Chili Piper – An intelligent scheduling tool that automates meeting bookings for sales teams.
Calendly – A widely used scheduling software that simplifies booking meetings with prospects and customers.
HubSpot Meetings – A free scheduling tool that integrates with HubSpot CRM for seamless appointment setting.
Sales Engagement Software
Sales engagement platforms empower reps to manage and automate their outreach across channels, keeping prospects engaged throughout the buying journey.
Sales Engagement Software Use Cases – Automating Sales Outreach: Schedule multi-channel touchpoints (email, calls, social). – Tracking Engagement Metrics: Monitor open rates, click-throughs, and response rates. – Managing Sales Sequences: Set up automated follow-up sequences. – Improving Rep Productivity: Reduce manual outreach tasks.
Sales Engagement Software Benefits – Streamlines Outreach: Helps reps stay organized and proactive. – Enhances Personalization: Uses AI and data to tailor messaging. – Improves Response Rates: Optimizes outreach timing and frequency. – Integrates with CRM: Keeps all engagement data centralized.
Sales Engagement Software Example
Outreach – A sales engagement platform that automates and optimizes outbound sales efforts.
Salesloft – A multi-channel engagement platform that helps sales teams personalize and scale outreach.
Apollo.io – Combines prospecting, enrichment, and engagement into one platform for automated outreach.
CRM
CRM serves as a central hub for managing customer relationships, tracking pipeline activity, and ensuring consistency in the sales process.
CRM Use Cases – Managing Customer Interactions: Centralizes customer data and communications. – Tracking Sales Pipelines: Provides visibility into deal stages and forecasts. – Automating Sales Workflows: Reduces manual data entry and task management. – Enhancing Customer Retention: Supports account management and renewals.
CRM Benefits – Improves Sales Efficiency: Keeps teams organized with a single source of truth. – Enhances Data Accuracy: Eliminates duplicate and incomplete records. – Provides Actionable Insights: Helps forecast revenue and measure performance. – Scales with Your Business: Adaptable to teams of all sizes.
CRM Example
HubSpot CRM – A user-friendly CRM with powerful automation and reporting capabilities.
Salesforce – An industry-leading CRM known for its scalability, customization, and integrations.
Pipedrive – A visual pipeline-based CRM designed for small to mid-sized sales teams.
Market Intelligence Software
Market intelligence tools equip sales teams with up-to-date insights into buyer behavior, industry trends, and competitive activity to refine targeting and messaging.
Market Intelligence Software Use Cases – Gathering Industry Insights: Understand market trends and competitive landscapes. – Identifying High-Value Accounts: Find potential customers based on firmographic data. – Tracking Buying Intent Signals: Detect when prospects actively seek solutions. – Enhancing Sales and Marketing Alignment: Provide shared data for better targeting.
Market Intelligence Software Benefits – Improves Targeting: Helps sales reps focus on the right accounts. – Speeds Up Lead Qualification: Provides real-time buying intent data. – Strengthens Competitive Positioning: Helps teams anticipate market shifts. – Integrates with CRM and Outreach Tools: Keeps data accessible for sales teams.
Market Intelligence Software Example
ZoomInfo – A market intelligence platform that provides detailed insights on companies and buyers.
Cognism – A B2B data provider that delivers intent-based lead generation insights.
Lusha – A contact and company data enrichment tool that helps sales teams find verified prospect information.
Sales Analytics Software
Sales analytics platforms turn raw sales data into actionable insights, enabling teams to make informed decisions, optimize performance, and forecast confidently.
Sales Analytics Software Use Cases – Tracking Rep Performance: Monitor individual and team metrics. – Analyzing Deal Trends: Identify what’s working and what’s not. – Optimizing Sales Processes: Find bottlenecks in the pipeline. – Improving Forecast Accuracy: Use data to predict revenue.
Sales Analytics Software Benefits – Provides Data-Driven Insights: Helps sales leaders make informed decisions. – Enhances Coaching Opportunities: Identifies areas for rep improvement. – Improves Pipeline Health: Detects weak points in the sales process. – Integrates with Sales and CRM Systems: Offers real-time visibility.
Sales Analytics Software Example
Gong – An AI-powered sales analytics platform that analyzes sales calls and pipeline health.
Chorus.ai – A conversation intelligence tool that helps sales teams analyze call and meeting insights.
InsightSquared – A revenue analytics platform that provides deep sales performance reporting.
Forecast commissions according to pipeline in QuotaPath.
Sales Forecasting Software
Sales forecasting tools use historical data and AI to help sales leaders project revenue, assess pipeline health, and make strategic decisions with greater certainty.
Sales Forecasting Software Use Cases – Predicting Revenue Trends: Use historical data to project future sales. – Assessing Deal Health: Identify which deals are at risk. – Improving Pipeline Visibility: Provide real-time insights into sales performance. – Optimizing Quota Setting: Align goals with data-driven forecasts.
Sales Forecasting Software Benefits – Improves Revenue Predictability: Helps companies plan more accurately. – Reduces Uncertainty: Uses AI and data modeling for better forecasting. – Enhances Decision-Making: Helps leadership adjust strategies based on trends. – Integrates with CRM and Analytics Tools – Ensures real-time updates.
Sales Forecasting Software Example
Clari – A revenue intelligence platform that improves forecasting accuracy.
BoostUp.ai – A forecasting tool that combines AI-driven analytics with deal insights.
Aviso – A predictive sales forecasting platform that uses AI to provide deal and revenue forecasts.
Deal Management Software
Deal management tools centralize and streamline the workflow of advancing, approving, and closing deals, improving consistency and reducing sales cycle friction.
Deal Management Software Use Cases
– Managing Sales Approvals: Streamline contract and pricing approvals. – Optimizing Deal Workflows: Automate handoffs between teams. – Tracking Deal Progress – Provide visibility into deal stages. – Ensuring Pricing Consistency – Standardize pricing across the team.
Deal Management Software Benefits
– Speeds Up Deal Closures: Reduces bottlenecks in approvals. – Improves Compliance: Ensures deals meet company policies. – Enhances Collaboration: Aligns sales, finance, and legal teams. – Automates Pricing and Discounts: Ensures consistency.
PandaDoc – A document automation tool that streamlines contract and proposal workflows.
DealHub – A sales proposal and deal acceleration platform that simplifies pricing, quoting, and approvals.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
Contract management solutions automate and secure the process of drafting, sharing, signing, and storing agreements, accelerating deal closure and improving compliance.
Contract Management Software Use Cases
– Automating Contract Creation: Generate agreements quickly. – Managing E-Signatures: Securely collect digital signatures. – Tracking Contract Expirations: Keep tabs on renewals and expirations. – Ensuring Compliance: Standardize legal language across contracts.
Contract Management Software Benefits
– Speeds Up Sales Cycles: Reduces delays in contract approvals. – Enhances Security and Compliance: Keeps documents secure. – Automates Approval Workflows: Streamlines handoffs between teams.
Contract Management Software Example
DocuSign – A leading e-signature and contract management platform.
Ironclad – A contract lifecycle management tool that automates contract approvals and compliance.
Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) – A simple and secure e-signature tool for contract management and approvals.
How To Choose What Tools To Include In Your Sales Tech Stack
This process will help you select the best software for your sales stack.
Assess Your Sales Process and Needs
– Identify the biggest pain points in your sales workflow. – Determine which tasks need automation and optimization. – Consider input from sales reps, RevOps, and leadership.
Prioritize Integration and Compatibility
– Choose tools that seamlessly integrate with your CRM. – Ensure data flows smoothly between systems to avoid silos. – Look for open APIs and native integrations.
Evaluate Scalability and Cost
– Choose tools that can grow with your team and business. – Consider the cost of licenses, implementation, and ongoing support. – Balance affordability with long-term ROI.
Test and Compare Software Options
– Take advantage of free trials and demos. – Compare ease of use, feature sets, and customer support. – Gather feedback from sales teams during testing.
Align Your Tech Stack with Your Sales Goals
– Ensure the tools support your pipeline management, forecasting, and reporting needs. – Prioritize solutions that directly impact revenue generation.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
The most common career jump in sales is the move from Business Development Representative (BDR) to Account Executive (AE). Done right, this transition unlocks top-performing sellers and accelerates revenue growth.
…Done wrong, it leads to underperformance, frustration, and high turnover.
I’ve seen both.
At QuotaPath, we’ve successfully helped BDRs transition into AEs, contributing to five consecutive quarters of 110% blended attainment. Along the way, we’ve refined the systems, coaching, and compensation structures needed to make this promotion work for both the rep and the business.
If you’re a sales leader preparing to move a BDR into an AE role, here’s what you should do to set them up for success.
Step 1: Structure a BDR Compensation Plan That Reinforces AE Behaviors
Before a BDR ever applies for an AE role, their compensation plan should be preparing them for the responsibilities of closing revenue. Too often, BDRs are only comped on demos booked, creating a “throw it over the fence” mentality that disconnects them from deal quality and conversion.
Instead, a BDR’s comp plan should evolve over time:
Start with Demo Booked Quotas: For ramping BDRs, an initial focus on quantity makes sense.
Incorporate Qualified Pipeline or Sales Accepted Opportunities: Encourage better alignment with AEs.
Tie Compensation to Closed-Won Revenue: BDRs should care about the outcomes of their deals.
As a leader, your job is to ensure BDRs don’t just chase demo volume but start thinking like closers early on.
That mindset shift is critical to their success as an AE.
BDR Comp Plan Templates
Use one of our five BDR comp plan templates to create plans easily.
Step 2: Give BDRs a Soft Ramp into Closing Before They Get Promoted
We implemented a structured, low-risk way for BDRs to gain closing experience before officially stepping into an AE role. We did this by letting BDRs take on smaller, lower-risk deals—like our 1-4 user seat demos—to give them hands-on practice closing new customers.
This model worked because:
It allowed BDRs to build confidence and practice key skills like negotiation and objection handling.
It gave us, as leaders, a data-backed way to evaluate their ability to close deals before a promotion.
It provided an “earn-up” opportunity where BDRs could make additional commission without distracting from their core BDR targets.
By the time a BDR officially stepped into an AE role, they had already won deals, making their transition faster and smoother.
Step 3: Develop the Core Sales Skills AEs Need
A BDR’s role is different from an AE’s. BDRs are focused on outbound activity, while AEs manage full-cycle sales. This means the biggest skill gaps when making the jump include:
Pipeline Ownership – Understanding how to manage, forecast, and grow a book of business.
Multi-Threading – Engaging multiple stakeholders and navigating complex sales cycles.
Negotiation & Contracting – Learning to hold pricing, justify value, and manage deal terms.
To bridge these gaps, we run weekly training sessions covering topics like pricing and packaging, competitive differentiation, and objection handling. We also assign BDRs to shadow AE calls, provide hands-on deal coaching, and use call reviews where BDRs critique AE performances.
One of my favorite coaching methods is BDRs coaching AEs—not just the other way around. This gives BDRs a framework for evaluating deal quality before they’re responsible for closing them.
Sales Ramp Calculator
Input annual quota, contract value, sales cycle, and variable pay below to calculate a monthly or quarterly breakdown for your new hire’s quota and ramping comp plans.
Step 4: Use the Right Comp Plan to Drive Success in the AE Role
A comp plan should set expectations from Day 1.
We’ve found that a properly structured ramping AE comp plan can make or break success in the first 90 days.
Should promoted AEs get a ramp? In many cases, no. If the rep already understands the business and product, a full ramp might not be necessary.
If ramping, what should change? A lower quota with higher commission rates can ensure the rep stays motivated without the pressure of a full AE target too soon.
Ensure visibility into earnings: Reps need to see how much they make on deals closed and forecasted. This is why at QuotaPath, we emphasize commission transparency, so reps can game their comp plans in the best way possible—closing revenue that’s great for the business and for their paychecks.
Additionally, I also offerfree compensation plan consultations to help leaders design plans that balance rep motivation with business revenue goals.
If you’re considering ramping your newly promoted AEs, I’d love to help.
Step 5: Coach for Retention (Not Just Promotion)
Many leaders assume every BDR wants to be an AE. That’s not always the case. Some BDRs best suit customer success, RevOps, or account management roles. Others might be elite BDRs who can generate massive pipeline and should be compensated accordingly.
Instead of making AE the only path, have career conversations early. Some of the best BDRs I’ve seen have become revenue operations pros or high-earning senior BDRs, making $300K+ by specializing.
If AE is the right move, ensure BDRs continue doing what made them successful—prospecting, asking great questions, and qualifying deals. One of the biggest pitfalls is when newly promoted AEs think prospecting is over, only to realize that inbound leads won’t always fill their pipeline.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
According to 82% of sales professionals, sales operations (SalesOps) play a critical role in business growth and are the backbone of a high-performing sales team. This team supports and enables frontline sales teams to sell more efficiently and effectively.
SalesOps provides strategic direction, improves cross-departmental collaboration and communication, reduces sales process friction, and manages tools, processes, and data to achieve its goals.
With the right tools, sales ops can streamline processes, improve forecasting, and drive predictable revenue growth. Companies that invest in sales operations tools see:
Higher quota attainment rates
Faster deal cycles
More accurate forecasting
In this blog, we explore comprehensive sales operations tools and strategies. This guide covers key features, implementation tips, and the transition to RevOps.
Recommended Reading
SalesOps vs. RevOps: An interview with RevPal Founder Christian Freese
Sales operations, SalesOps, is the strategic function that supports and enhances a sales team’s efficiency. It bridges sales, finance, and RevOps, ensuring sales teams are equipped with the right processes, data, and tools to succeed.
Sales operations strive to increase revenue efficiency by optimizing workflows, automating tasks, and improving sales performance tracking. SalesOps enables sales teams to focus more on selling and less on administrative burdens, ultimately contributing to the overall growth and success of the business.
Key Responsibilities of Sales Operations
As far as responsibilities, SalesOps handles the following critical functions that support a high-performing sales organization:
Process Optimization – Standardizing and improving sales workflows to increase efficiency.
Sales Data & Analytics – Collecting, analyzing, and leveraging data for better decision-making.
Technology & Automation – Implementing and managing CRMs, forecasting tools, and automation platforms.
Compensation & Commission Tracking – Ensuring accurate commission payments and motivating reps with performance-based incentives.
Sales Strategy & Planning – Aligning sales efforts with company goals through quota setting, pipeline management, and forecasting.
The Evolution of Sales Operations
Traditionally, sales operations focused on data entry, reporting, and administrative tasks. However, the role has evolved. Today, modern Sales Ops teams act as strategic revenue enablers, leveraging automation, AI, and real-time analytics to drive predictable revenue growth.
Sales operations is increasingly merging with Revenue Operations (RevOps), which integrates sales, marketing, and customer success into a unified revenue strategy. This evolution reflects a broader shift toward cross-functional alignment and data-driven decision-making in today’s competitive business landscape.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Key Features To Look For In Sales Operations Tools
Now, for the tools! Sales operations software optimizes day-to-day sales functions. When selecting the best tools for your organization, consider these crucial features.
Feature
Why It Matters
What to Look For
Business Goals
Sales operations tools should align with your revenue and efficiency objectives, helping teams hit quotas, close deals faster, and improve forecasting accuracy.
– Customizable dashboards and reporting – Goal tracking and performance metrics – AI-driven forecasting for revenue planning
Ease of Automation
Automating manual processes saves time, reduces errors, and ensures consistency in sales workflows.
– Workflow automation for approvals, commissions, and reporting – AI-based recommendations for deal prioritization – Integration with CRMs and finance tools for seamless data syncing
Ease of Adoption
Tools should be user-friendly and intuitive to ensure high adoption rates across sales, finance, and operations teams.
– Low learning curve with minimal training required – Clean, intuitive user interface (UI) for easy navigation – Built-in guided onboarding and support resources
Ease of SalesTech Connections
Sales ops tools should integrate with existing sales technology stacks to avoid data silos and manual workarounds.
– Native integrations with CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) – API support for custom connections – Ability to sync data across forecasting, commission tracking, and analytics platforms
Security Compliance
Protecting sensitive sales and customer data is crucial for maintaining compliance and avoiding legal risks.
– Role-based access control (RBAC) for user permissions – Compliance with GDPR, SOC 2, and other security standards – Secure data encryption and audit logging
QuotaPath offers leadership and rep-level views into attainment and earnings to drive performance.
Top Sales Operations Software
Sales operations leverage various tools to facilitate their multifaceted role efficiently. We’ve curated some popular options in key software categories commonly used by these professionals to aid your tool selection.
CRM Software
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps businesses manage, track, and document their interactions with current and potential customers. This tool organizes, automates, and synchronizes sales, marketing, customer service, and support activities.
Salesforce
Salesforce helps companies manage customer relationships, communication, conversion, lead tracking, and measure success through reporting.
HubSpot
HubSpot unites marketing, sales, and customer service on a single platform, enabling them to focus on the customer.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM helps businesses manage sales, marketing, and customer support activities in a single, unified platform.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is designed to help businesses close more deals by enabling sales teams to focus on managing leads, tracking sales activities, and automating sales processes.
Forecasting Software
Sales forecasting software enables the sales operations team to accurately predict a sales team’s performance in the upcoming months by analyzing past trends and current performance indicators. These insights help allocate resources, detect weaknesses, improve budget management, and minimize risks.
Avercast
Avercast’s Sales forecasting software uses previous sales data plus current salesperson data to make sales projections. The software enables sales ops to create more realistic sales goals and adjustforecasts based on sales rep feedback.
OnPlan
OnPlan provides budgeting and forecasting capabilities, enabling sales operations to create “what-if” scenarios, track milestones, and gain insights into past performance through premade dashboards.
Clari
Clari helps businesses create accurate forecasts by analyzing historical data and identifying patterns, reducing guesswork, and improving revenue predictability.
Anaplan
Anaplan is a business planning, forecasting, and performance management software platform that connects financial, strategic, and operational planning in real-time, enabling better decision-making.
Sales Automation Software
Sales automation tools standardize and automate repetitive manual tasks like emails, scheduling, and data entry, enabling reps to focus on sales activities to advance and close deals. Recent research by McKinsey indicates that leveraging automation can help boost sales by up to 20 percent.
Bardeen
Bardeen helps automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows across various apps and websites by connecting different applications with a few clicks, saving time and effort.
Zapier
Zapier connects different apps to automate workflows without needing to write code.
Boomi
Boomi helps businesses connect applications, data, and devices. Its user-friendly, low-code platform enables data integration, process automation, and API management.
Apollo
Apollo automates sales lead generation, contact database management, email outreach, and engagement to streamline sales processes and boost efficiency.
Sales Intelligence & Data Enrichment Software
Now let’s talk sales intelligence software, which equips sales ops teams with market insights, competitor analysis, and lead scoring, eliminating guesswork and facilitating data-driven decision-making.
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo provides businesses with company and contact information, as well as tools for outreach and automation, to improve their sales and marketing efforts.
Sales Navigator
LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps sales professionals find, qualify, and engage with leads more effectively, offering advanced search capabilities, lead recommendations, and CRM integration.
Cognism
Cognism provides verified emails, phone numbers, and intent data to help businesses connect with their target customers.
LeadFeeder
LeadFeeder identifies and tracks website visitors, providing buyer intent data and enabling data-driven lead generation and sales decision-making.
DiscoverOrg
DiscoverOrg provides contact data and sales intelligence, enabling sales operations to identify key decision-makers, manage and enrich data, and improve sales efficiency and pipeline velocity.
Infer
Infer offers predictive lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads and improve sales cycle efficiency.
MadKudu
MadKudu aggregates data, prioritizes leads, and provides context for outreach, helping sales teams focus on high-value prospects and improve deal velocity.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
Commission tracking software automates calculating, managing, and tracking sales commissions, bonuses, and incentives, streamlining processes and ensuring accurate payouts to sales teams.
QuotaPath
QuotaPath provides real-time data syncs, personalized dashboards, and automated commissions to enhance earnings transparency and sales performance.
Qobra
Qobra automates commission calculation, validation, and sharing, reducing errors and boosting sales motivation with real-time visibility to enhance sales performance.
Xactly
Xactly automates compensation design and management to align seller behavior with revenue goals, reducing administrative time, improving quota attainment, and increasing payout accuracy.
Performio
Performio is used to automate and manage sales commission calculations. It allows businesses to design compensation plans and track sales performance.
Spiff
Spiff simplifies incentive compensation management, builds trust, motivates sales teams, increases performance and earnings visibility, and drives top-line growth.
CaptivateIQ
CaptivateIQ blends the ease of spreadsheets with advanced automation tools, allowing companies to efficiently design, calculate, and manage complex incentive compensation programs.
Sales Analytics Software
Sales analytics software helps businesses analyze sales data, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to improve sales performance and increase revenue. It provides insights into sales activities, customer behavior, and market dynamics, enabling businesses to optimize their sales strategies.
Tableau
Tableau helps businesses make sense of data to solve problems. It’s used for business intelligence, data visualization, and analytics.
Parabola streamlines data consolidation, reporting, and analysis, facilitating data-driven decision-making.
A peek into QuotaPath’s compensation management solution.
Best Practices for Implementing Sales Operations Tools
All that is great, but remember that selecting the best tools means nothing if they aren’t properly implemented. Take a look these tips below to get the most out of your chosen sales operations software.
Sales Operations Org Structure
Start with org. structure. A well-defined sales operations org structure is essential for clarity, collaboration, and alignment with broader revenue goals.
Define roles and responsibilities: – Clarify the distinction between RevOps, Sales Ops, and Finance teams. – Assign ownership for data management, reporting, automation, and tool oversight.
Ensure alignment with revenue strategy: – Structure the team to support scalability, forecasting, and efficiency. – Connect sales leadership, finance, and operations for shared accountability.
Leverage sales ops to optimize processes: – Improve pipeline visibility, compensation accuracy, and quota attainment tracking. – Standardize sales workflows and data hygiene across all tools.
Determine Best Practices
Secondly, strong operational standards must be established to ensure that the tools support business outcomes effectively.
Establish clear workflows and processes – Define how data flows between tools (CRM, commission tracking, forecasting). – Ensure that automation supports key sales objectives.
Align tools with business goals – Identify which metrics matter most and how tools should measure them. – Set clear expectations for tool adoption and usage across teams.
Regularly evaluate and optimize – Conduct quarterly audits to measure tool effectiveness. – Gather feedback from sales reps, leadership, and finance teams.
Encourage Collaboration With Sales Leadership
Close collaboration with sales leadership helps ensure sales operations tools directly support frontline success.
Sales Ops as a strategic partner – Work with sales leaders to define quotas, incentives, and compensation structures. – Support deal strategy and pipeline forecasting with real-time insights.
Ensure sales leaders understand tool’s impact – Provide visibility into how automation reduces administrative work. – Show how tools optimize performance tracking and revenue forecasting.
Create a culture of transparency and accountability – Ensure reps can see their earnings, goals, and progress in real-time. – Implement multi-level approvals for commission accuracy.
Build A Skill Development Plan
Next, training is essential to maximize the value of tools and empower teams to use them effectively.
Train sales teams on best practices for using tools – Offer ongoing education on CRM, automation, forecasting, and compensation management. – Develop role-based training modules for different team functions.
Empower teams to use data effectively – Teach reps how to interpret dashboards and optimize sales strategies. – Train RevOps and Finance teams on commission tracking and quota modeling.
Foster a learning-driven culture – Host monthly sales operations reviews to discuss what’s working and what’s not. – Encourage sales ops to improve processes continuously based on feedback.
Roll It Out In Phases, Don’t Go Big Bang
Additionally, we recommend rolling out new solutions gradually. This ensures smoother adoption, fewer disruptions, and faster iterations based on feedback.
Start with a pilot group – Test the new sales ops tool with a small team first. – Gather initial feedback before full rollout.
Phase implementation across departments – Introduce tools gradually to sales, finance, and RevOps teams. – Ensure each group understands their role in the process.
Refine based on user adoption and impact – Monitor early performance indicators to adjust workflows. – Provide support resources to ease adoption.
Cross-Team Collaboration
Lastly, collaboration between sales, finance, and RevOps is critical to ensure tools deliver unified insights and scalable growth.
Unify sales, finance, and RevOps through shared insights – Create centralized dashboards for real-time data sharing. – Ensure all teams have access to the same performance metrics.
Encourage open communication between departments – Hold regular alignment meetings to review tool adoption and impact. – Foster a culture of continuous improvement based on data insights.
Optimize workflows for efficiency and transparency – Automate commission tracking, approvals, and reporting to reduce bottlenecks. – Use feedback loops to refine processes and improve tool efficiency.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
We’ll end this long piece with some thoughts on the transition from SalesOps to RevOps, which continues to accelerate. RevOps topped LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise list in 2023, with nearly 60% of companies having established RevOps functions in the last two years. Forrester found that businesses that align the people, process, and technology in the demand engine, as they do in RevOps, experience 36% more revenue growth and up to 28% more profitability.
How are SalesOps professionals making the transition to RevOps? According to Christian Freese of RevPal, “Spend the time you’re in sales ops to learn and build those relationships internally with your current company or join RevOps Slack groups to get some mentors.
Start understanding the full funnel view of a company, from the inception of a lead to an opportunity, a deal, the handover to CS, and through to an upsell or cross-sell. Understand the responsibilities of every GTM function. You don’t have to be an expert in each one because a good RevOps person, in my opinion, is a generalist.
They know a little bit about everything and can lead a team that can build out what you’re planning.
Also, get familiar with what OKRs are and how companies plan their OKRs. Then, learn how to align all the teams to drive that one OKR metric that drives the company forward.”
So there you have it. Now, you should feel fully ready to build that salesops software stack and prepare for a move toward RevOps!
FAQs
What is the difference between revenue operations and sales operations?
While both Sales Operations and Revenue Operations (RevOps) aim to improve revenue, RevOps takes a broader, holistic approach. It focuses on aligning all revenue-generating teams (sales, marketing, customer success) to optimize the entire customer journey. In contrast, Sales Operations focuses on streamlining the sales process and enhancing sales team productivity.
Which sales operations tool has the most features?
For sales operations, Salesforce Sales Cloud is often considered a leader in terms of feature richness, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for managing customer interactions, streamlining sales processes, and providing analytics.
How can sales operations tools improve sales team productivity?
Sales operations tools improve sales team productivity by automating tasks, streamlining workflows, providing data insights, and enabling better resource allocation, ultimately allowing sales teams to focus on closing deals and improving overall performance.
What skills are essential for sales operations professionals?
Essential skills for sales operations professionals include strong analytical and data analysis abilities, CRM proficiency, project management skills, communication, and collaboration with sales teams and other departments.
Managing payroll is complex and time-consuming, especially for businesses with commission-based teams. The intricate calculations, variable pay structures, and compliance requirements make payroll processing challenging for HR and finance departments.
Many companies still rely on manual processes, leading to errors, compliance risks, and payment delays. One in five payrolls in the U.S. contains errors, each costing an average of $291, according to Paycom. These inefficiencies highlight the urgent need for payroll automation, which streamlines operations, reduces costly mistakes, and ensures employees are paid accurately and on time.
If you’re ready for payroll automation, our latest guide is for you. In this blog, we unpack the key benefits of today’s top solutions and where to start when implementing them.
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The only push-to-payroll commission tracking solution.
Payroll automation is the use of technology to streamline and manage payroll processes with minimal human intervention. By replacing manual calculations and data entry with automated systems, businesses can ensure employees are paid accurately and on time while reducing administrative burdens. These systems handle everything from tax withholdings and benefits deductions to direct deposits and compliance reporting.
As companies recognize the inefficiencies and risks associated with traditional payroll management, adoption rates are rapidly increasing. According to SaaSworthy, 80% of companies are expected to implement automated payroll systems by 2025. This shift reflects the growing demand for accuracy, efficiency, and regulatory compliance, as payroll automation significantly reduces errors and ensures compliance.
Why You Should Automate Payroll
Managing payroll manually is time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to compliance risks and unnecessary costs. However, automation of payroll streamlines processes, improves accuracy, and enhances overall business efficiency. Here’s why you should automate payroll:
Saves time: Eliminates manual tasks and reduces processing from hours to minutes.
Minimizes human error: Global payroll processing accuracy averages 75%, with 32% saying it takes two or more pay cycles to rectify mistakes. Automated systems improve accuracy by minimizing errors in data entry and calculations.
Enhances security: Advanced encryption protects employee data and reduces the risk of data breaches, boosting security and privacy.
Reduces costs: Streamlining processes, minimizing errors, and better record keeping result in lower operational expenses.
Faster reporting: Audit-ready financial reporting with structure payout records ensures commissions align with ASC 606 revenue record requirements.
Better record keeping: The SEC filed 760 enforcement actions and recovered a record $6.4 billion in penalties, with $1.235 billion in cumulative penalties paid in connection with the recordkeeping violations in FY22. Better record-keeping ensures compliance and penalty avoidance.
Improve employee experience: On-time, correct payments, and self-service portals improve trust, transparency, employee satisfaction, and productivity.
Ensures compliance: 53% of companies have incurred non-compliance payroll penalties in the last five years. However, businesses using automated strategic payroll systems report 70% fewer compliance issues.
Increases transparency: Self-service portals enable employees to understand and track their earnings.
Payroll Automation Use Cases
Automated payroll processing offers tailored solutions to streamline payments, ensure compliance, and reduce processing time. Below are some of the most impactful use cases for payroll automation.
Use Case #1: Automating Commission-Based Payroll
Sales teams often rely on manual spreadsheets to track commissions, resulting in errors, delays, and compliance issues. Delays in commission payouts can demotivate sales teams and reduce overall productivity. Additionally, inconsistent commission calculations pose compliance risks, resulting in legal and financial complications.
Payroll automation streamlines commission calculations by integrating directly with CRM systems. It automatically extracts relevant deal data, ensuring accurate and timely payouts without manual intervention. Automation also integrates commission approvals directly into payroll systems, eliminating the risk of human error.
For example, companies that utilize the QuotaPath and Rippling integration can push commission data directly into payroll, reducing payout errors and delays.
Use Case #2: Payroll for Global & Remote Teams
Businesses with international employees face significant challenges in managing payroll across multiple tax jurisdictions. Paying international employees means companies must handle multiple currencies and ensure compliance with country-specific labor laws, further complicating payroll processing.
Payroll automation simplifies global payroll by automatically calculating salaries according to local tax requirements. It converts and pays salaries in multiple currencies, ensuring employees receive their correct wages without the hassle of manual exchange rate adjustments. Moreover, automation ensures compliance with location-based payroll regulations, reducing non-compliance risk.
For instance, a company with sales reps in multiple countries can use payroll automation to handle global payroll seamlessly without manual conversions.
Use Case #3: Reducing Payroll Processing Time & Costs
Payroll processing can be a time-consuming and costly task for HR and finance teams. Manually handling payroll requires hours of effort, and any errors that occur demand additional time for corrections. Payroll deadlines create a high-stress environment at the end of pay periods, increasing the likelihood of mistakes and compliance risks.
Implementing payroll automation reduces payroll processing time from hours to minutes. Automated systems identify discrepancies before payments are processed, minimizing errors and the need for corrections. Plus, payroll automation provides real-time reporting and forecasting, facilitating data-driven decisions.
Companies using automated payroll systems report a 20% reduction in administrative costs, according to Keevee.
Use Case #4: Ensuring Compliance & Reducing Risk
Maintaining payroll compliance is a critical concern for businesses, as payroll errors can lead to IRS penalties and legal consequences. Changing tax laws makes manual compliance difficult for HR and finance teams. Employees also need accurate tax deductions and reporting to ensure they meet their own tax obligations.
Payroll automation mitigates compliance risks by ensuring payroll taxes are calculated correctly and filed on time. Automated payroll systems keep up with state, federal, and international tax regulations automatically, without constant manual oversight. Furthermore, automation reduces the likelihood of audits and fines due to payroll discrepancies.
According to Deloitte, 71% of companies automate payroll functions to improve accuracy and compliance, highlighting the widespread adoption of payroll automation as a risk-mitigation strategy.
How To Automate Payroll
Implementing payroll automation by following these steps will help optimize payroll operations, improve compliance, and minimize human error.
1. Evaluate Your Current Payroll Process
Identify pain points in your existing system (manual entry, errors, compliance risks, delays).
Assess how much time HR/Finance spends on payroll processing.
Tax compliance automation (federal, state, and local taxes).
Multi-currency & global payroll support (for international teams).
Commission automation (if managing variable pay).
Compare top payroll providers (e.g., Rippling, ADP, Paycom, Gusto).
3. Integrate Payroll with Existing Business Tools
Connect your payroll system to:
CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) to sync sales data for commission-based payroll.
HRIS (Rippling, BambooHR, Workday) for employee records and tax filings.
Accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero) for financial reporting and audits.
Set up API connections or use built-in integrations for real-time data syncing.
4. Automate Data Collection & Processing
Ensure payroll software pulls real-time data from:
Employee hours worked (for hourly employees).
Deal close data (for commission payouts).
Tax deductions and benefits adjustments.
Set up automated approval workflows to eliminate manual verification steps.
5. Set Payroll Schedules & Compliance Rules
Define pay periods (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) based on business needs.
Ensure automation includes tax withholdings, benefits deductions, and compliance with labor laws.
Implement built-in compliance checks to prevent errors that trigger audits or fines.
6. Test & Validate the System
Run a parallel payroll test (manual vs. automated) for accuracy.
Check tax calculations, direct deposit transactions, and reporting accuracy.
Adjust settings if any discrepancies arise.
7. Go Live & Monitor Performance
Fully launch the automated payroll system for your next pay cycle.
Monitor early pay runs for errors, missing data, or workflow bottlenecks.
Gather feedback from employees on payment accuracy and access to payroll records.
8. Continuously Optimize & Improve
Review automated payroll reports for efficiency improvements.
Stay updated with payroll compliance changes and update settings accordingly.
Explore additional automation features (AI-based forecasting, custom reporting, multi-tier approvals).
Features To Look For In Payroll Automation Software
Choosing the right payroll automation software means evaluating essential features that streamline payroll processes while ensuring compliance and security. Consider the following key features when selecting a solution.
1. Core Payroll Processing Features
Automated Payroll Runs: Set up payroll cycles (weekly, biweekly, monthly) to run automatically.
Direct Deposit and Payment Options: Supports direct bank deposits, checks, or digital payment methods.
Tax Withholding and Filing: Automatically calculates and files federal, state, and local payroll taxes.
Payroll Deductions and Benefits Management: Handles healthcare, retirement contributions, and other deductions.
2. Compliance and Security
Tax Compliance Automation: Keeps up with changing tax laws and regulations to prevent penalties.
Multi-State & Global Payroll Support: Ensures accurate tax calculations for employees across different locations.
Data Encryption and Security: Protects sensitive payroll and employee data from breaches.
3. Integration Capabilities
CRM Integration (Salesforce, HubSpot): Automatically syncs commission-based earnings from CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot for sales teams.
HRIS Integration: Connects with HR software such as Rippling, Workday, and BambooHR for seamless onboarding and employee record management.
Accounting Software Integration: Syncs payroll expenses from platforms like QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite with financial reports.
Time Tracking Integration: Automates wage calculations from programs like Toggl, Clockify, ADP Time, and Attendance for hourly employees.
Commission Automation Integration: Integrate with a compensation management platform such as QuotaPath to automate end-to-end payouts in platforms like Rippling with the ability to push commissions into payroll.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
How To Pick The Right Payroll Automation Software For Your Business
Payroll automation helps streamline payroll processes, reduce costly errors, and ensure compliance. Automated payroll can save time, enhance accuracy, and improve employee experience.
To choose the best payroll automation software for your business, consider the following:
Assess your business needs
Identify must-have features
Evaluate integration capabilities
Consider ease of use & scalability
Compare pricing & cost efficiency
Check customer support & reliability
Read reviews and get a demo
Ready to leverage payroll automation? Schedule a demo to learn more about Rippling & QuotaPath.
The sales commission platform market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by increasing demand for automation and performance-driven compensation strategies.
Valued at USD 16.92 billion in 2024, the market hit USD 17.69 billion in 2025 and is projected to soar to USD 41.63 billion by 2034, reflecting a 9.97% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2025 to 2034 (Source). This growth underscores the rising importance of commission management solutions in optimizing sales performance and operational efficiency.
As competition is tight regarding the best commission software, we’ve curated a list, plus pros, cons, and ratings, to inform you as a buyer.
Top 5 Sales Commission Software Companies as of 2025
Sales commission platform that helps businesses design, track, and automate compensation calculations with AI-powered plan builder and native integrations
Finance, sales and RevOps management, and sales reps use sales commission software to plan, manage, and administer employee compensation packages. These platforms help organizations save time, reduce errors, and simplify compensation plan management. Sales commission tools also help improve transparency and trust while increasing sales motivation and performance.
Features To Look For In Commission Software
Seeking the following key features when evaluating software for commission sales will enable you to select the best commission software.
The right commission platform offers significant advantages beyond automation. Here’s a closer look at the benefits of using software for commission sales.
Scenario modeling and forecasting – Helps leadership predict costs and adjust strategies.
Use AI to translate plans from spreadsheet or PDF to QuotaPath.
Best Sales Commission Software as of 2025
With numerous options, selecting the best sales commission software for your organization can be challenging. We’ve compiled a list of top-rated platforms based on G2 rankings, highlighting their standout features to help you choose.
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
How to Choose the Right Commission Software for Your Business
The best commission software does more than automate commission calculations. It enhances efficiency, transparency, and sales performance while simplifying compensation management. The ideal commission platform seamlessly integrates with CRM and payroll systems and gives sales teams real-time visibility into earnings, quotas, and payout forecasts. It should also allow for flexible compensation plan customization and multi-level payout approvals.
ASC-606 compliance and audit readiness features are essential to ensure commission tracking accuracy. An AI-powered plan builder, performance analytics, and reporting streamline compensation plan creation and optimization. Additionally, ease of use, transparent pricing with no minimums, and a reliable, accessible support team are key to a trusted and successful partnership.
Schedule a demo to see how QuotaPath fulfills all these requirements and more.
From understanding customer behavior to identifying trends, actionable insights are pivotal in driving performance. A sales rep scorecard, a structured framework for tracking key metrics, is one of the most effective tools for keeping teams focused and productive.
By offering a clear snapshot of performance, sales rep scorecards allow businesses to monitor progress toward lead generation goals, identify gaps, and implement data-driven strategies.
Whether you aim to increase the number of target leads, improve conversion rates, or boost overall revenue, scorecards provide the visibility needed to succeed.
Below, we explore how to design, implement, and optimize a sales rep scorecard, ensuring it aligns with your business’s lead generation goals. We’ll look into the components of a successful scorecard, discuss essential tools like lead generation software, and share best practices for continuous improvement.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Lead generation is the cornerstone of any successful business. Even the best side hustles won’t generate profit without a good lead-generation plan.
If your team doesn’t understand how many leads you need to generate, and how those leads convert into revenue for a successful sales strategy, they risk wasting time, effort, and resources. Here’s why lead generation goals matter:
Focus and Accountability: Setting specific lead generation goals gives sales reps a clear target to aim for. This focus fosters accountability, ensuring everyone on the team knows their role in achieving success.
Efficient Resource Allocation: Knowing your lead targets helps prioritize high-impact activities. Teams can focus on prospecting channels and tactics that deliver the most significant returns, optimizing the use of time and budget.
Measurable Progress: Goals provide a benchmark for performance. By tracking metrics like the number of target leads or conversion rates, businesses can assess their progress and pivot strategies as needed.
Alignment with Business Objectives: Lead generation directly impacts revenue growth. Setting and achieving lead generation goals ensures that sales efforts align with broader company objectives, such as entering new markets or launching new products.
To meet these goals effectively, organizations must implement systems that capture, analyze, and report on performance data.
A well-designed sales rep scorecard serves as the backbone of this process, translating abstract goals into actionable insights. It not only tracks current performance but also identifies opportunities for improvement, ensuring your team stays ahead of the competition.
Image via Unsplash
Components of a Sales Rep Scorecard
A well-crafted sales rep scorecard provides a comprehensive view of individual and team performance. Its effectiveness lies in the metrics it tracks, the clarity of its design, and its alignment with your business’s lead generation objectives. Here are the key components to consider when building a scorecard:
Lead Metrics: At its core, the scorecard should track the number of leads generated. This can include metrics such as the total number of target leads, leads contacted, and leads qualified. These figures give a clear picture of how well sales reps are filling the pipeline.
Conversion Rates: While generating leads is important, their quality matters even more. Track conversion rates to measure how effectively leads are moving through the funnel and turning into customers. This highlights areas where sales reps excel and where improvements are needed.
Activity Tracking: Include metrics for daily sales activities, such as calls made, emails sent, meetings scheduled, and follow-ups completed. These metrics help identify whether reps are maintaining a consistent level of effort.
Revenue Contributions: Link sales activities to revenue outcomes by tracking how much each rep contributes to closed deals. This ensures the scorecard ties performance to bottom-line results, making it more impactful.
Customizable KPIs: Different businesses prioritize different metrics. Ensure your scorecard can be tailored to your unique goals, such as tracking performance in specific industries or geographic markets.
Incorporating sales performance analytics into your scorecard ensures that your metrics reflect actionable insights, helping to align sales efforts with lead generation goals.
Building an Effective Scorecard
Creating a sales rep scorecard involves more than just selecting a few metrics—it requires careful planning to ensure the tool meets your team’s unique needs.
A well-thought-out scorecard provides clarity, fosters accountability, and drives results when implemented correctly. Follow these steps to build a scorecard that maximizes your team’s potential:
Define Clear Objectives
Start by identifying what you want to achieve with your scorecard. Whether it’s tracking the number of target leads or improving customer conversion rates, your objectives should be specific, measurable, and aligned with your overall sales strategy. Clearly defined goals ensure the scorecard remains focused and actionable, giving your team a clear direction.
Identify Relevant Metrics
Choose metrics that reflect both individual and team performance. Metrics such as activity tracking, lead quality, and revenue contributions provide a comprehensive view of progress and help identify areas for improvement. Remember to prioritize metrics that directly align with your business goals to maintain the scorecard’s relevance.
Incorporate Tools and Technology
Leverage lead generation software and automated marketing tools to streamline data collection and analysis. These technologies can save time and ensure accuracy, allowing sales reps to focus on high-value activities rather than administrative tasks. The integration of tools ensures seamless updates to the scorecard, enhancing its efficiency.
Ensure Scalability
Your scorecard must be adaptable as your team grows or market conditions evolve. Include customizable elements that can be modified to suit new goals or metrics. Scalability ensures the scorecard remains a long-term asset rather than a short-term fix.
Focus on Simplicity
While it’s tempting to track every available metric, simplicity is key. A cluttered scorecard can overwhelm your team and dilute its effectiveness. Focus on the metrics that matter most to your goals. Streamlined scorecards are easier to interpret and more likely to be used consistently by your team.
By following these steps, you can design a scorecard that tracks performance and drives meaningful improvements across your sales team. The scorecard becomes an indispensable tool for sustained success when combined with regular reviews and updates.
Tools to Track and Optimize Lead Generation
A sales rep scorecard is only as effective as the tools that support it. The right tools help you track, analyze, and optimize your metrics, ensuring the scorecard delivers actionable insights. Here are some key tools and technologies to consider.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
A robust CRM system is essential for tracking interactions with leads and customers. CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot allow you to monitor the entire sales pipeline, from initial contact to closed deals. They provide the data needed to populate your scorecard with accurate and real-time metrics.
Lead Generation Software
Tools like Leadfeeder help sales reps identify and reach out to target leads. By integrating lead generation software into your workflow, you can ensure a steady influx of quality leads while keeping track of engagement metrics.
Automating repetitive tasks like email campaigns and follow-ups ensures that no potential lead slips through the cracks. Tools like Mailchimp or Marketo streamline these processes and allow you to track their effectiveness, adding valuable insights to your scorecard.
Customer Verification API
Ensuring that your leads are legitimate and accurate is crucial for effective lead generation. Using Vonage’s customer verification API, businesses can authenticate customer data in real time, minimizing wasted effort and improving overall lead quality.
Sales Performance Platforms
Platforms like Plecto and Brainshark are specifically designed to track sales performance metrics and visualize performance data. They integrate with other tools, offering centralized dashboards that make it easy to monitor progress toward goals.
Data Analytics Tools
Tools like Tableau or Google Analytics can help you dive deeper into your scorecard data, uncovering trends and opportunities for optimization. These tools enable advanced reporting and predictive analytics, allowing for more strategic decision-making.
By leveraging these technologies, your team can streamline operations, improve lead tracking, and ensure your scorecard reflects accurate and actionable data. Investing in the right tools will not only enhance the scorecard’s effectiveness but also empower your team to achieve its lead-generation goals.
Best Practices for Implementing a Sales Rep Scorecard
Building an effective scorecard is only part of the equation—ensuring its successful implementation is equally important. The following best practices can help you maximize the impact of your scorecard:
Communicate the Purpose Clearly
Before rolling out the scorecard, explain its purpose and benefits to your sales team. Make it clear that the tool is designed to support them rather than micromanage their work. Additionally, ensure that the goals align with your sales commission structure to incentivize the desired behaviors and outcomes.
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Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
Provide comprehensive training on how to use the scorecard and associated tools. This includes understanding the metrics, interpreting the data, and leveraging insights to improve performance.
Set Realistic Expectations
Ensure that the goals outlined in the scorecard are attainable. Unrealistic targets can demotivate your team, while achievable goals inspire confidence and drive engagement.
Review and Adjust Regularly
Business goals and market conditions change over time. Regular sales performance reporting ensures that your scorecard remains aligned with evolving business objectives, enabling teams to stay on track toward lead generation goals. Update metrics, tools, or benchmarks as needed.
Celebrate Successes
Use the scorecard to recognize and reward top performers. Celebrating successes reinforces positive behavior and encourages the entire team to strive for excellence.
Incorporate Feedback
Gather input from your sales team on the scorecard’s usability and effectiveness. Incorporating their feedback will ensure the tool remains practical and relevant.
By following these best practices, you can foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. The scorecard will become an integral part of your sales strategy, driving sustained success and helping your team achieve its lead-generation goals.
Image via Unsplash
Leverage Data for Continuous Improvement
Periodic reviews are essential to ensure that your sales rep scorecard remains relevant and effective. As business goals evolve, market conditions shift, or new tools become available, the scorecard must be adjusted to reflect these changes. Regularly analyzing scorecard data allows your team to stay agile and responsive.
Tracking progress on a consistent basis aligns with the financial reporting standard of transparency. By maintaining accurate and up-to-date records, your team can demonstrate accountability to stakeholders and foster trust within the organization.
Transparent reporting also enables leadership to identify trends, predict challenges, and allocate resources effectively.
Additionally, using data to drive continuous improvement empowers your team to experiment with new strategies.
For example, analyzing the success rates of specific outreach methods or lead generation channels can reveal opportunities for optimization. Over time, this iterative approach ensures your sales team stays ahead of the competition and consistently meets its lead generation goals.
Final Thoughts
A sales rep scorecard is more than just a performance-tracking tool—it’s a strategic asset that aligns your team’s efforts with your business’s lead-generation goals. By focusing on the right metrics, leveraging advanced tools, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, you can empower your sales team to exceed expectations.
As you implement and refine your scorecard, remember that flexibility and transparency are key. Regular reviews, coupled with actionable insights, will ensure your scorecard evolves alongside your business needs.
By integrating tools like lead generation software and maintaining alignment with standards like the financial reporting standard, your team can drive sustainable growth.
A well-designed scorecard can make all the difference.
It keeps your team focused, enhances accountability, and ultimately transforms your lead-generation efforts into measurable success. Start building your sales rep scorecard today, and unlock your team’s full potential.
Author Bio:
David Becker is a Growth Marketing Manager at Leadfeeder, a powerful website visitor analytics software. He helps drive Leadfeeder’s growth strategies and demand generation with a keen focus on mental health and well-being in the workplace. David excels in creating impactful marketing campaigns, analyzing trends, and boosting customer engagement for the team.
For reps, higher quotas often feel like a gut punch.
Just put yourself in the rep’s shoes.
It’s the start of a new sales year, and you’re a top-performing account executive.
On your calendar, you notice a sales team meeting. “This must be to review our comp plan,” you think.
You’re right. It is!
And, just atop the meeting invite in your inbox, sits your new com plan in all of its glory with the subject line, “Review before today’s meeting.”
While skimming through it, your stomach drops: a quota increase of 20%.
No additional accelerators, no expanded territory, no new enablement resources—just a bigger target. The reasoning? “Since the team hit last year’s goal, we’ve raised the bar.”
Did leadership even consider what made last year’s goal possible? You say out loud. It took a record number of inbound leads, an expanded marketing budget, and a market that was more forgiving than it is today.
Now, you’re expected to do more with the same—or less.
– end scene–
This exact scenario plays out every single year in sales organizations across industries.
And when quota hikes come with no added support, tools, or upside, it’s no surprise that motivation drops, top performers churn, and revenue targets start slipping.
The reality? Quota increases aren’t inherently bad, but you have to paid them with strategic gives to keep sales teams engaged and equipped to win.
So, if you’re a sales leader with plans to increase quota, below are a few ways to soften the blow and set your team up for success.
Additional Reading
Need help setting up your quota? Read this blog to get going.
For a top-performing rep, taking time off can feel like a setback.
They return from vacation only to find they’ve fallen behind and are scrambling to catch up. Instead of penalizing them for taking time off, offer pro-rated quota relief for vacation days.
How to implement: To adjust a rep’s quota fairly for the time they take off, reduce their quota in direct proportion to their missed working days. This ensures that their daily targets remain the same, rather than expecting them to make up for lost time.
Why it matters: This prevents burnout and encourages reps to take the time they need without fearing they’ll fall behind.
9. Pay Commissions on Booking Date, Not Cash Receipt
A rep closes a big deal in January, but the customer won’t make their first payment until March. Under the old plan, they don’t see their commission for months.
Calculate the rep’s daily quota expectation: Daily Quota = Standard Quota ÷ Total Working Days in the Period
Multiply by the number of working days they will actually be available: Adjusted Quota = Daily Quota × (Total Working Days – Vacation Days)
Why it matters: It speeds up earnings, improves cash flow for reps, and reduces frustration when customers delay payments.
8. Draws or Early Access to Commissions
A new hire is ramping up but struggling financially because commissions are slow to come in. To keep them afloat, offer a recoverable draw, an advance on future commissions.
How to implement: Provide a monthly draw for the first three months that gets repaid through future earnings.
Why it matters: This gives reps financial stability as they ramp and ensures they can focus on selling instead of stressing about their paycheck.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
It’s demotivating when a rep crushes their target in Q2, but earns the same commission rate under the standard plan. Instead, pay them more for going above!
How to implement: Introduce a comp plan with accelerators—higher commission rates that kick in once a rep exceeds quota. For example, offer 10% commission up to quota, then 15% once they hit 120% attainment.
Why it matters: This rewards top performers and encourages them to push beyond their goals.
6. Bonuses for Key Deals & Product Mix
You need the team to sell more multi-year contracts or high-margin products, but reps stick to what’s easiest to close.
How to implement: Offer one-time bonuses for deals that align with company goals—$500 for a multi-year deal, $1,000 for a strategic upsell.
Why it matters: It directs sales efforts toward the most impactful revenue opportunities without forcing a comp plan overhaul.
5. SPIFs & Short-Term Incentives
You want to boost activity in a slow quarter. Instead of just pushing harder, launch a SPIF (Sales Performance Incentive Fund).
How to implement: Offer a $250 bonus for the first three deals closed this month.
Why it matters: It creates urgency and excitement, giving reps a clear, short-term reason to hustle.
4. Enhanced Coaching & Training
You’re asking reps to hit higher quotas, but are they better prepared to sell? If not, it’s setting them up to fail.
How to implement: Provide weekly coaching sessions, role-playing exercises, and targeted sales training to improve win rates.
Why it matters: Investing in skill development ensures reps aren’t just working harder—they’re working smarter.
3. Quota Adjustments for Ramp Periods
A new AE joins the team, and their first quarter’s quota is the same as a tenured rep’s. They have no pipeline, no momentum, and no chance of success.
How to implement: Use a ramping schedule—set their first-quarter quota at 50% of the full target, then 75% in Q2, before reaching full quota in Q3.
Why it matters: It builds confidence, sets realistic expectations, and ensures new hires aren’t demotivated before they even get started.
Additional Reading
Quota Relief for Sales Leaders, Reps, and New Hires
A rep closes a deal in March, but under your plan, they have to wait until the next quarter’s payroll cycle to get paid.
How to implement: Offer off-cycle commission payouts, such as paying commissions every two weeks instead of monthly.
Why it matters: Getting paid faster improves cash flow, reduces anxiety, and keeps reps engaged.
1. Recognition & Non-Monetary Rewards
Lastly, it’s unlikely that all of your reps will be top performers. Find other ways to motivate your mid-level sellers to keep them engaged and happy.
How to implement: Introduce tiered incentives like a President’s Club trip for top performers, quarterly awards for best conversion rates, or public recognition for consistency.
Why it matters: Not every rep is purely motivated by money—status, recognition, and a sense of accomplishment also drive performance.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
For many, sales compensation represents a means of paying reps through performance.
But what’s often left out is its ability to drive specific business growth by aligning sales behaviors directly with an organization’s key goals.
When done right, we see compensation plans actually boost quota attainment, reduce turnover, and create predictable revenue outcomes. But when misaligned, they can demotivate teams, cause commission disputes, and lead to rep churn.
In fact, 90% of companies adjust their compensation plans annually, said David Cichelli, Revenue Growth Advisor at the Alexander Group. Plus, 65% of companies have lost at least one salesperson due to disputes over commissions, per our 2024 sales compensation report.
Additionally, only 28% of reps are expected to hit their full quota—a sign that many plans fail to set realistic targets.
All of this suggests a major disconnect between the plan design, the desired outcomes, and the effect of misalignment.
So for you, someone looking to learn more about building a comp plan with a solid foundation, we wrote the following to help. Whether you’re building a compensation plan from scratch or refining an existing structure, this guide breaks down the components every revenue leader should understand.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
First, let’s begin with the most common components of a compensation plan. Note: In QuotaPath, our Plan Builder experience includes a component library, so that you can drag and drop elements into your plan for ease in translating your unique plan to our system.
Base Salary vs. Variable Pay
A good compensation plan balances financial stability with performance-based incentives.
Base salary, or base pay, provides security for reps, while variable pay is tied to revenue generation.
“The mix between base salary and variable compensation often depends on the role’s risk level and control over outcomes,” said Graham Collins, our Head of Partnerships. “Typically, roles closer to revenue generation have a higher proportion of variable pay.”
According to our 2023 Compensation Trends Report:
SaaS Account Executives often have a 50/50 or 60/40 split between base and variable pay
BDRs/SDRs typically have a 70/30 or 80/20 split, since their focus is lead generation rather than direct revenue.
Next up is on-target earnings (OTE), which represents the total expected earnings if a rep hits 100% of their quota.
To calculate your OTE follow this formula: Annual base salary + annual commission earned at 100% of quota = On-Target Earnings (OTE)
But remember that more reps are failing to hit quota than those who make it, so OTEs are drawing bigger question marks from reps than ever before. The trick is in finding a variable pay amount that ties in a realistic quota.
To help, you can use our OTE calculator. This free tool allows you to plug in inputs tied to sales cycles, average sales price, and quota frequencies to ensure your OTEs and quotas align with industry standards.
TIP! Quota setting isn’t about making reps work harder—it’s about making revenue predictable. To fix this, analyze historical performance data, use industry benchmarks, and introduce accelerators to motivate overperformance without setting unrealistic baselines.
Tiered commission: Higher rates for higher sales volumes (e.g., 8% on the first $50K, 12% beyond that).
Accelerators: Higher commission rates once a rep surpasses quota.
Decelerators: Reduced commission rates for underperformance or discount-heavy deals.
We’ve found that the best comp plans use tiered structures with accelerators to drive behaviors that align with business priorities and reward overperformance..
Bonuses, SPIFs, and Incentives
Most structures incorporatebonuses and SPIFs(Sales Performance Incentive Funds) as well to maintain motivation, especially during slow sales periods or when promoting specific behaviors.
Bonuses represent a one-time payout for hitting a specific goal). Meanwhile, SPIFs encompass short-term rewards such as “$500 for the first three deals closed this month”).
You could also factor in non-monetary incentives, like exclusive events, team leaderboards, or recognition awards.
“Not all motivation is financial. The best leaders build comp plans with incentives that go beyond commissions,” said our VP of Sales and Ops, Ryan Milligan.
SPIF Q1 Micro Report
After automating commission payouts of more than $7M in short-term incentives and accelerators for our customers, we unpacked what incentive types are most widely adopted, when, and why.
We’ve already mentioned a few of the common challenges in sales compensation, such as unrealistic quotas or plans that misalign with key business objectives.
Even the best-designed plans can face issues over time.
Here are three common problems and how to fix them:
Low Quota Attainment
If most of your team is missing quota, your plan might be misaligned.
We found that 90% of sales team in 2024 missed quota, many of which credited this to the volatility of the market and a failure to adjust their comp plans.
On average, it takes reps 3 to 6 months to understand how they are paid. That’s insane! This is because of how unique compensation structures are to a business.
The harder it is for a rep to understand it, the more likely they are to distrust the entire process and leadership behind the plans. (65% of companies have lost a salesperson due to commission disputes.)
TIP! Use commission tracking software like QuotaPath to give reps real-time earnings visibility and simplify compensation structures so that they know what to expect earnings-wise with every deal in their pipeline.
Scaling & Territory Misalignment
And if you think comp plans get easier as the team scales, boy, have you mistaken!
In fact the reverse happens. As teams grow, territory overlaps, misaligned quotas, and outdated comp plans become big issues.
TIPS! Adjust compensation plans mid-year based on deal data, rather than relying on outdated models Treat new territories, teams, and products as your business’s first compensation plan ever then modify as you collect more intel into the sales processes.
How to Build a Strong Compensation Plan
Step 1: Define Goals & Align Incentives: Does your comp plan encourage higher deal values, faster sales cycles, or more new business?
Step 2: Set Attainable Quotas: Use historical data and industry benchmarks to set realistic goals.
Step 3: Choose the Right Commission Structure: Consider tiered commissions, accelerators, and strategic bonuses to motivate high performance.
Step 4: Ensure Transparency & Simplicity: Use commission tracking tools to reduce disputes and provide earnings visibility.
Step 5: Regularly Review & Adjust: If quota attainment drops, disputes increase, or reps leave, your plan needs a revision.
Final Thoughts: Make Compensation a Strategic Advantage
Start using sales compensation to drive predictable revenue and motivate your teams.
To build an effective plan, align incentives with company goals, ensure quotas are realistic and achievable, and use transparency and real-time tracking to prevent disputes and deepen understanding.
QuotaPath helps companies track, adjust, and optimize comp plans.
Key Takeaways for Sales Leaders
Sales compensation plans need regular updates. 90% of companies adjust comp plans yearly (David Cichelli, Alexander Group).
Transparency is key. 65% of companies have lost a rep due to commission disputes (QuotaPath Sales Compensation Challenges Report).
Motivation drives results. Use tiered commissions, accelerators, and recognition to keep reps engaged and performing.
As a mid-year checkpoint for revenue goals, Q2 influences budget allocations and builds pipeline momentum for the year’s second half. Optimizing efficiency ensures that every sales investment drives maximum impact, helping teams stay on track and capitalize on seasonal market opportunities.
The pressure to hit quarterly revenue targets while staying within budget requires precise strategies.
Every dollar spent must drive maximum impact while staying within budget, and sales compensation is pivotal to achieving alignment between goals, performance, and efficiency.
However, efficiency goes beyond cutting costs; it’s about maximizing output per dollar invested.
This is where Revenue Operations (RevOps) is uniquely positioned to influence efficiency through metrics that reflect how well compensation plans align with company goals.
In this blog, we’ll explore three key compensation metrics—Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Lifetime Value (LTV), and quota attainment rates, and how they influence sales efficiency and team alignment.
Plus, we’ll share actionable advice for improving Q2 performance with compensation metrics.
Improve sales efficiency in Q2 by tracking and optimizing the right compensation metrics. Analyzing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Lifetime Value (LTV), and quota attainment rates helps identify inefficiencies, align sales incentives with long-term growth, and ensure sales teams work toward the right goals.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total amount of money an organization spends to gain a new customer.
Why It’s Relevant: CAC reflects the cost-effectiveness of your sales efforts. If CAC is too high, compensation plans may be incentivizing inefficient behaviors.
Potential Issues: Over-prioritization of low-value deals to maximize commissions. Poor alignment between deal size and the cost of sales.
How to Address It:
Tie commissions to deal profitability or LTV-to-CAC ratios.
Introduce a tiered compensation structure rewarding reps for closing higher-margin or long-term-value deals.
Use QuotaPath’s reporting to analyze CAC trends by rep or team and adjust compensation plans accordingly.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
Lifetime value (LTV) measures the total revenue an organization can expect from a customer throughout its relationship with the company.
Why It’s Relevant: LTV reflects the long-term return on your sales investments. A low LTV compared to CAC indicates inefficiency in retaining high-value customers.
Potential Issues: Compensation plans are overly focused on closing new deals rather than nurturing customer relationships. Missed opportunities for upselling or cross-selling.
Use QP to segment deals by LTV and measure which compensation levers align with your top-performing reps.
Quota Attainment Rates
The quota attainment rate is the percentage of sales team members who meet or exceed their sales goals.
Why It’s Relevant: Quota attainment measures team and individual performance against revenue goals. Low attainment rates are a red flag for misaligned goals or unrealistic quotas.
Potential Issues: Quotas that are set too high, leading to unmotivated reps. Disparities in attainment rates across teams or territories.
Leverage Compensation Metrics to Drive Sales Efficiency
Sales efficiency isn’t just about working harder; it’s about working smarter.
By focusing on key compensation metrics like CAC, LTV, and quota attainment, companies can fine-tune sales strategies to maximize output and align performance with business goals.
RevOps is the MVP for monitoring and optimizing these metrics to align compensation with efficiency goals. And there’s no time like Q2 to fine-tune compensation metrics to ensure sales teams stay focused and productive.
Leverage QuotaPath’s reporting capabilities to analyze your compensation plans and explore how adjusting compensation metrics like CAS, LTV, and quota attainment can drive efficiency.
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